RESOURCE #1: The Travelling Egg Project

This has been a FUN and thought-provoking exercise. I've really enjoyed the brain-storming (I didn't sleep well the first couple of nights I was so excited hehe) Here's with I wrote in my Visual Diary on the 6th June....

above: images from the internet

I googled the word WOMB and was especially inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci'd Study of the Womb, and it was from this, that I  birthed the idea of shaping a womb "shell" with paper mache over a balloon that was blown up enough to fit in my hand. 

 Very messy...lots of fun!

 ...hanging outside to dry....

 I had thoughts of using chicken wire and Plaster of Paris to strengthen and reinforce my "womb" but I wasn't 100% sure about it.... so did a bit more googling. I got the idea of using hessian strips with the POP and knew I had some so went in search in my resource cupboard for some scraps...Once the ballon was removed and my womb cut in half. I needed to somehow keep paper-mached shape when I plastered it so I stuffed the inside halves with some balled-up newspaper

 ...and this is what they looked like once plastered with the hessian strips dipped in the POP....

Once dry, I painted it (...several times until I got the colour I liked!)

 ..the inside...

I have been VERY PROUDLY showing off my "womb" to all my friends LOL! They are excited for me and love my idea. 

Next is to "line" my womb to protect the egg....

 Cutting out the fabric...

 add the wadding to line the inside of my "womb"

yes.. it fits!

(excuse the weird colours in the photo above)
The stamped wording expresses my thoughts about the egg,
new life, new beginnings..
"Going back to the beginning"as not only is an egg the beginning of life,
TLC is also the new beginning of my art journey
"Encase, Keep safe, Precious" - what the "womb" does and provides. It's also what I feel has happened to me, artistically-speaking.
The butterflies signify transition and transformation.

This is the cover for the egg...it opens at the bottom 

..and the other side..
It reads "The layers (pun) of protection, hiding the egg". We all hide parts of ourself...things we are ashamed of or aren't confident in. This is how I feel with my artistic abilities...like it's hidden in the layers of what I've been told when I was at school (that I was "wasting time" decorating my work artistically) and that I'm "No Good" at things....

 My egg nesting inside my "womb"...protected by the layers

 ...slipped inside the centre lining layer...

  ..and held safely inside with velcro.

My Tag, naming my Travelling Egg Project. The Bible says that "children are a Gift from God" ...hence why my womb is "gift-wrapped"

..and explaining what it is to me

...a symbolic place of New Beginnings!

 My Art Womb is a place within me...I look forward to it growing!

 The front view

 Side View

 Other side

The Back...untie here (pink ribbon) to open

Thanks for looking..... I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

RESOURCE 1: Drawings

 

charcoal

 Quick sketch, line drawing

another line drawing

 Quick sketches with shading

I struggled with these..and wasn't really happy with any of them.

I found it hard to get the light/dark shading.
Will rewatch the Resource #1 DVD for help ...

More RESOURCE 1: Exercises 10 and 11

 Exercise 10: Analogues - 

1) Anger 

2) Peaceful 

3) Depressed

4) Energy

 Exercise 11: More Analogues

A) Laughter

B) Love

C) Your Favourite Hobby

D) Your Job/Work

I really enjoyed this and found it "relatively easy" to express myself using analogues :0)

Chat with Rachel - 28 June

I had a nice chat with Rachel yesterday. She was really helpful and encouraging. I don't want to "give up" ..I need to "push through" (as unpleasant as it is!)

I'm feeling kind of sick in the stomach this morning. Rosanna got into a bit fight with me last night. While I went for a walk to de-stress he went and stayed overnight with friends. Kaeli, her puppy needs to be checked out by the vet who sprayed her, as a bulge (incision hernia?) has appeared in her scar. I'm not sure if Rosanna will come back home to come with me...I could do without the added stress. It seems to be my lot though!

I picked up some books from the mobile bus library yesterday. Some on painting landscapes and a couple on fabric painting. I'm really keen to learn to work with fabrics. Maybe that could be one of my majors??

I'm going to work on my Travelling Egg Project this afternoon...nearly finished it and really happy how it's coming together. :0) I also need to upload the other exercises I've done and re-watch the Resource 1 DVD to go back over the ones I need to complete.

RESOURCE 1: Exercises 1-9

Resource 1 

Exercises 1-3

Exercises 4-9

I really struggled with these.

I had the most fun with the ex 8/9 ..probably because my expectations of myself were lower.